Reduction of iron oxide by carbon and gas in a novel low carbon, low energy alternative ironmaking process

The steel industry is facing significant challenges in achieving and sustaining competitiveness, such as strict environment regulations, new energy sources, global overcapacity, and competition from other materials. To create an industry that will be sustainable for the future, extraction of metals needs to be lean in energy, low in C footprint and flexible with regards to raw material/energy sources. This project aims to advance the reaction mechanisms of iron oxide (FeO) with carbon and gas in a novel low energy, low carbon alternative iron making process, and enable the realisation of the potential to substantially reduce its carbon footprint. This will be achieved by using specifically designed modern experimental techniques to study the reactions in the gas-slag-metal systems at high temperatures, carrying out thermodynamic & kinetic simulations for the systems studied, and characterising the samples and product gases generated with the aid of advanced characterisation facilities in the Advanced Steel Research Centre at WMG of the University of Warwick. The project provides an outstanding opportunity to be involved in cutting-edge research of the next generation sustainable steel manufacturing. This is an EPSRC/Tata Steel iCASE studentship, and the project align well with the EPSRC research areas of "Materials Engineering - Metals & Alloys" and "Manufacturing Technologies".